Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

Too little, too late, ftfnyt. fuck all the way off.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Fight them, without becoming them!

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

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87Comments

  4. 4.

    Ailuridae

    I decided to cut off the codeine today so I can remember this day clearly for a long, long time.

    I have a lot of issues with MoDo’s Irish Catholic scapegoated gender and class issues but this brought a smile to my face (via GOS’ Sunday round-up)

    Like that other troublemaking Bart (Simpson), Stupak, who wants to kill the health care bill because he thinks the language on abortion funding is not restrictive enough, should have to write on the blackboard a hundred times: “I will listen closely when the nuns tell me I am wrong. I will not be an obstinate lawmaker.

  10. 10.

    WereBear

    One theme of our human culture is a longing to be in on a pivotal moment in our history. And a significant subset is wanting to influence that moment as it goes by.

    Then there’s the worry that we will choose the wrong way? How can we tell?

    Then there’s Bart Stupak. The antithesis to my thesis.

  11. 11.

    DanF

    Rep. Baron Hill is now a solid yes on HCR. Now I guess I’ll have to vote for the bastard…

  12. 12.

    Phyllis

    Working on my second cup of coffee, second load of clothes, and savoring this day almost as much as I did November 4th, 2008.

  14. 14.

    PaulW

    Having at it.

    Can the next thing we do is pass legislation equating lying with felony fraud? ‘Cause every time these bastards open their mouths and spout off their crap, they make money off it.

  15. 15.

    Brian J

    I don’t remember who it was, but in another thread, someone asked when, exactly, Mitt Romney would try to take credit for today’s (hopefully–knock on wood) positive health care vote. That might have been the most prescient comment I’ve seen on here in some time–and considering the quality of the comments, that’s saying something.

    I know this may be a little immature, but I hope no Republicans vote for this. (I mean, besides Cao, who would?) It’s much easier to campaign on the fact that no Republicans–not one, nada, zilch, zero, zero percent–voted for it, rather than one voting for it. And if it does pass (knock on wood), they need to drive this number into every head of every potential voter in the country.

  16. 16.

    freelancer

    @John Cole:

    Ahhh. I could live with President Kal Penn in 2016, maybe by that time Huntsman will return from China and be so gobsmacked by GOP insanity that he’ll be Penn’s Veep.

    A manboy can dream, huh?

  17. 17.

    demkat620

    I’m going to go take a shower, get to the grocery store, pick up my kids and cook and clean while I am glued to the tv all day. No basketball just HCR.

    I went out last night with a friend and couldn’t relax cause I am so nervous about this vote. The husband is going to have an extra clean house and leftovers for tomorrow so he won’t have to cook.

  19. 19.

    Brian J

    @freelancer:

    Back when he was made Ambassador to China, and his non-insane record as a Republican was being discussed, someone said he’d become a Democrat before long. I don’t know enough about the man to know if that is true, but it was an interesting thought.

  21. 21.

    demkat620

    According to Politico.com

    Chairman of the Dem Caucus told ABC This Week

    Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) said Sunday would be an historic day, and said: “We have the votes now. As we speak.”

    Let’s make with the voting!

  22. 22.

    Snarky Pickles

    @Ailuridae:

    Like that other troublemaking Bart (Simpson), Stupak, who wants to kill the health care bill because he thinks the language on abortion funding is not restrictive enough, should have to write on the blackboard a hundred times: “I will listen closely when the nuns tell me I am wrong. I will not be an obstinate lawmaker.

    No shit. I wouldn’t want the cross the Penguin nuns — they have rulers.

    Seriously, though — I was born in a Catholic hospital, run by the Sisters of Charity, and through much of my life, my extended family’s health care has frequently been through one or another Catholic institution. We aren’t Catholic ourselves, and I personally have strong and not-very-nice things to say about the Church of Rome. But I know this: the sisters know and understand health care. They get it, because they (or at least many of them) have lived it. The Council of Bishops? Not so much.

  25. 25.

    Ash Can

    @Brian J: You can bet that Republicans hand over fist will be trying to take credit for HCR, as election campaigns heat up and even quite possibly starting this week, just like they did with the stimulus.

  28. 28.

    Brian J

    @Snarky Pickles:

    I’m not a religious person, either. My mother was going to become a nun before she had five kids, and I went through all the traditional Catholic steps, but I am not religious. That said, I still have nothing but good things to say about the nuns and other people at the church my family goes to (except for me, usually). After my dad died, my mom couldn’t bring herself to put a tombstone up for years, and my nice but pushy (among other things) grandmother was bothering my mother about it, but a nice nun from the church held her at bay.

    It is absolutely unsurprising, for many reasons, that they are cool about health care. The leadership may be messed up, but I have nothing but good thoughts for official individual Catholics.

  31. 31.

    lamh31

    Dave weigl tweeted that stupidpak says he has 6 votes including himself. Seriously is this dude really proud that is might torpedo this whole thing. He ain’t gonna be a hero to anybody, and unless he becomes a rep, he is still gonna be a pariah

  33. 33.

    Josh

    So, how about these “tenther” lawsuits/legislation…

    What are your thoughts about this? Do you think it could come down to a state rights vs. federal gov’t power argument?

    I’m not entirely sure what I think about the validity of the 10th amendment argument for states to opt out.

  34. 34.

    Brian J

    @Ash Can:

    Sometimes, when I am at the gym and don’t feel like trying to read blogs on my phone, and have scanned the entire place to see who is there, I think about what it’d be like if I was running campaign. It’s easier to do certain things in theory than it is in practice, but the more I think about it, the more I think that the Democrats would benefit from taking a firm stance against crap like that. (After all, the press isn’t going to help them, and the Republicans will act like it’s The Most Offensive, Outrageous, Cheap Attack EVER! no matter what they do, so what do they have to lose?)

    What would I do? Assuming it’s allowed, in every district of a person who dares to act as shamefully as some did with the stimulus, I’d place a billboard with a simple message like, “Rep. ____ is a hack. He did everything he could to prevent health care reform and is now trying to take credit for it. Don’t let him get away with it!” Or something like that–I’ll leave the language to the pros.

  36. 36.

    Ailuridae

    @Snarky Pickles:

    My godmother and aunt is a nun (Society of Sisters of St Joseph) and grew tired of the Council of Bishops a couple of decades ago. The worst part about Stupak’s Gambit on all of this is that the federal government 1) subsidizes abortions already in the completely untaxed private insurance market and 2) many women end up paying out of pocket for abortions because they don’t realize their private insurance covers it.

  37. 37.

    freelancer

    OT – via Ed Brayton:

    Orly Tate on the ballot as the GOP candidate for California Secretary of State.

    His exact quote:

    Orly Taitz got on the ballot for secretary of state in California. I’m telling you, God loves me.

  38. 38.

    Mike Kay

    Okay. The vote may not happen today.

    Stupak says the goopers may try procedural tricks ( I know, shocking, isn’t it) to push the vote past midnight, so they can shriek “the bill was passed in the dead of night….” If this happens, the vote will be delayed until a reasonable hour on Monday.

  39. 39.

    mai naem

    I hope Nancy Pelosi/Harry Reid have some nice theater involved during their respective votes. I imagine Dingell with either be the first or the 216th vote. Also too, Al Franken’s mentioned in the NY Times article as having lit into Axelrod for the WH not pushing on HCR in Feb. I am so glad Franken is the Senator from the Great State of Minnaysotah and I hope he doesn’t have to wait 6 months to get seated next time around.

  41. 41.

    Fergus Wooster

    @PaulW:

    Can the next thing we do is pass legislation equating lying with felony fraud?

    Not that we’d ever want the equivalent of British libel or defamation law, but I do think we need some sort of real civil consequences for outright libel/slander, and American standards are so lax as to be useless. I wouldn’t mind seeing some teeth in our libel/slander/defamation statues, so that when you say something straight-up wrong and defamatory you get bloody called on it.

    This goes against the First Amendment fundamentalist in me, but I think it might be necessary for our future discourse.

  42. 42.

    lamh31

    @Mike Kay:
    seriously, this mofo is proud of what he is doing! And is now actually reciting the GOP strategy. The guy is disgusting! If this bill passes or not, I’m not gonna be suprised if this guy turns RINO

  43. 43.

    Brian J

    @mai naem:

    If the bill does pass (knock on wood), I hope the signing ceremony makes the wedding of the Arcelor Mittal daughter, which cost $55 million, look like a 6-year-old’s birthday party.

  44. 44.

    mai naem

    @Ailuridae: My bet is that a lot of women pay for the abortion out of pocket because they don’t want everybody in the world know that they had an abortion. I have a friend who had an abortion who not only paid out of pocket but used a false name.

  45. 45.

    Brian J

    @lamh31:

    The answer to everything isn’t a primary challenge, but I sincerely hope this dick is tossed out on his ass. Has any other Democrat, even Joe Lieberman, Blance Lincoln, or Ben Nelson, been as counterproductive this year?

  46. 46.

    geg6

    Mike Kay @38: I read an article written by a former House Parliamentarian that debunked the idea that the GOPers could significantly delay the vote. Can’t remember exactly what he said, but he says too many shenanigans are simply wishful thinking if the Speaker wants the vote to happen.

  48. 48.

    Greg

    Plouffe and Rove on This Week was painful. Karl was pissed reps lost the HC vote and had a major temper tantrum. The masks are off.

  49. 49.

    Snarky Pickles

    @mai naem:

    I am so glad Franken is the Senator from the Great State of Minnaysotah and I hope he doesn’t have to wait 6 months to get seated next time around.

    I keep asking my sister in Minnesota if we can borrow one of her senators for a while — either one, we’re not choosy — but she always says we have to take Bachmann, too.

  50. 50.

    PurpleGirl

    Story about musak right now on Sunday Morning… yeah, it affects shopping behavior. A local mall now surrounds you in hip hop and dance music. I’ve stopped spending a lot of time in that mall, it’s in and out of specific stores and ear plugs at the ready because certain sounds bother me, causing physical pain. I’m spending less at the mall. Contrary to what the CEO just said, it doesn’t give me pleasure.

  51. 51.

    rob!

    You know who else used teleprompters, don’t you?

    Hitler! And we all know how obsessed he was with giving his citizens cheap, affordable health care, so the comparisons are so obvious I can’t believe you people don’t see them!

    Let me get out my chalkboard…

  52. 52.

    Ailuridae

    @mai naem:

    Yeah, I’m pretty familiar with it all; I’ve worked as an escort at PP in the past here in the suburbs and exurbs.

  54. 54.

    Ailuridae

    @geg6:

    My understanding is very similar. There isn’t a whole lot they can do in the house to delay this vote. If its delayed today I imagine its more that they don’t have a secure number of votes for passage.

  55. 55.

    rob!

    My bet is that a lot of women pay for the abortion out of pocket because they don’t want everybody in the world know that they had an abortion. I have a friend who had an abortion who not only paid out of pocket but used a false name.

    I love how liberals–via taxes–have to pay for all sorts of stuff we find offensive, even immoral (see: Iraq War). But when a conservative has to do it, they throw a fucking fit. What a bunch of babies.

  59. 59.

    Brian J

    @Greg:

    With C. Amanpour taking over “This Week,” is there any chance she’ll dump Rove as the theme becomes focused more on international developments?

  60. 60.

    Josh

    Wait…I just noticed that the sub-header was “Peak wingnut is a lie.”

    Clever. I always figured we were tumbling down the rabbit hole with the hope it would be reached and then subside. I do think it’s like waves on the beach, though. It’ll come, recede, then come back, sometimes bigger and harder.

    Seriously, though: tenther legislation…

    Thoughts?

  61. 61.

    Brian J

    I found this amusing, and since it’s not very long, I’ll just post the whole damn thing:

    The Wall Street Journal, always on the lookout for good humor, outdid itself today with an essay by Chester E. Finn Jr., advocating keeping schools open on Saturday. The author acknowledges that strapped districts are shortening the school week to four days. Others are considering eliminating the 12th grade.

    Presumably, the idea would be for teachers to increase their days of work in return for reductions in salary. Sadly, the problem is a teachers’ union, which is also responsible for the bad weather during the winter.

    In the words of the author, “This issue brings out the teacher unions, too, demanding more pay for extra hours, hence fatter school-system budgets in a lean fiscal time. Little wonder that taxpayers are legitimately wary.”

    And who says that the Wall Street Journal does not have a good sense of humor?

    Finn, Chester E. Jr. 2010. “The Case for Saturday School.” Wall Street Journal (20 March): p. W 1.

  64. 64.

    Mike Kay

    Man, that blonde correspondent (Tracy Smith) on CBS Sunday Morning is friggin gorgeous.

    Hubba, hubba.

  66. 66.

    Anya

    @Brian J: I somehow feel that Olympia Snow would vote for it at the end. I think she understands that this is a moment in history and she wants to be part of that history.

  67. 67.

    Svensker

    @Brian J:

    Has any other Democrat, even Joe Lieberman, Blance Lincoln, or Ben Nelson, been as counterproductive this year?

    Joe Lieberman’s very existence is an insult to the Force. So, yeah.

  71. 71.

    JGabriel

    @Josh:

    Seriously, though: tenther legislation … Thoughts?

    I think, for most us, our first thought re: Tenthers is: What about them?

    Largely because for most people, the first associations with tentherism we make are 19th C. arguments like, “The gubmint can’t free my slaves! I paid for those Negroes, they’re my property!”

    Consequently, we just don’t engage with the argument, nor give it much (any) credence. It’s like arguing with conspiracy theorists over the gold standard.

    .

  72. 72.

    SiubhanDuinne

    rob!

    I think debate starts at 2:00, however. That holds promise of vast entertainment — or nailbiting fury, of course.

  73. 73.

    Josh

    @JGabriel:

    Ah. I see. Thanks for that. My thoughts tend to lead toward that too, but I had an interesting discussion with some chap from Greece and another dude who thought just because I was a college senior I didn’t know anything about anything.

    I just needed someone that lived rationally to fix the hole they made in my brain.

    They cited New York v. United States and Prinz v. United States as prime arguments about why the tenther argument is valid.

    The head spins with disillusionment.

  74. 74.

    Quackosaur

    @Brian J:

    That article was just ridiculous. I think his argument could be summarized as:

    We need more hours of school (who needs Saturday off?) because the Chinese do it and they’re beating us on international standardized tests for math and science (don’t let people tell you there are other things you should be learning in school). Gym, recess, lunch, and “lining up to go to the art room” are inefficient uses of time (try telling American kids that, or even teachers, and see what they say; people don’t need breaks from learning at all). Yay charter schools, boo public schools because teachers’ (and custodians’) unions are teh evil!!! Well-to-do parents and the travel industry conspire to keep summer vacation at the expense of those lower-class kids who can’t be watched properly if they’re not in school (after all, he just wants them to learn and keep them at their presumably public schools away from their parents). Core subjects are important (but he won’t let us know what those subjects are). BLAH BLAH BLAH

    —-

    I maybe sensationalizing his argument a tad bit much, but that’s basically the gist of it. Did I mention that he hand-waved that some districts were considering lowering their number of school hours/days because of budget shortfalls? I’m sure the former Reagan administration official thinks they’re just using their money/time inefficiently. Also, those damn unions hate our children, too.

  75. 75.

    lamh31

    Okay stupak seems real keen on this exec order idea on abortion. Isn’t just Obama saying yeah, the bill doesn’t support abortions, which it already doesn’t so what’s the point. stupak just trying to save face?

  76. 76.

    Tomlinson

    @lamh31:

    Okay stupak seems real keen on this exec order idea on abortion. Isn’t just Obama saying yeah, the bill doesn’t support abortions, which it already doesn’t so what’s the point. stupak just trying to save face?

    Stupak is grasping. He’ll take whatever he can get – this is his shot at history. Such as it is.

    What a prize.

  77. 77.

    Throwin Stones

    I think I need to turn the tube off. I’m scaring my young daughter yelling at Karl ‘new math’ Rove. What an asshole.

  78. 78.

    freelancer

    @Throwin Stones:

    No kidding, he brings on that dry erase that he stole off some kid’s dorm room door and just fucking lies. I fucking hate Rove.

    There’s a joke out there in the ether about him looking like a punching bag and me having the fantasy of treating him like a punching bag
    but I can’t crystallize it.

  79. 79.

    Bobzim

    Caterpillar claims that HCR bill would cost them $100 million in the first year. With close to 95,000 employees, that comes to about $88/month per employee.

    Sounds devastating, doesn’t it?

  80. 80.

    Snarky Pickles

    @freelancer:

    There’s a joke out there in the ether about him looking like a punching bag and me having the fantasy of treating him like a punching bag but I can’t crystallize it.

    Chill, dood. It’s Sunday morning. Go have a nice breakfast ham.

  82. 82.

    gbear

    holds promise of vast entertainment—or nailbiting fury, of course.

    I just can’t do nailbiting fury today. As soon as I get a couple loads of laundry done, I’m gonna get myself out in the sun and let the day take care of itself. All the good clips will be online later, and I’ll just try to stay aware enough while I’m out and about to feel the moment when everything changes. When I come back in, BJ will be my first stop.

  83. 83.

    Ailuridae

    @Bobzim:

    Tough shit for Caterpillar. And a company having 67B in assets complaining about a manufactured number of 100M in costs a year while basically being dependent on government money in lean times doesn’t really bother me.

  84. 84.

    FairEconomist

    I somehow feel that Olympia Snow would vote for it at the end. I think she understands that this is a moment in history and she wants to be part of that history.

    Too late. She’ll never get a chance. The main Senate bill will go straight to the President now. The Senate vote will be on the House modifications to the bill. She may well vote for them, but that will have no effect on whether HCR itself passes.

    That vote will be a splitting headache for the Republicans because the changes are overwhelmingly popular (cutting the sweetheart deals, reducing taxes to the middle class). The Republicans are sworn to oppose them, and that’s going to look terrible to the voters. At the same time if the Republicans try to triangulate and say “well *these* changes are good” the Teabaggers and Bushites are so confused that they’ll start frothing at the mouth and ranting about how the Republicans have betrayed them. In any case the package will go through as the Democrats want and the Republicans are going to end up looking ineffectual.

    Ironically the wingnutters demanding bended-knee obeisance from Brown, Snowe, and Collins may rebound against them. Had they been willing to deal the Republicans might have been able to squeeze in some pet irrelevancy like tort reform and then claim credit for the benefits of HCR. Now every good thing that comes out of HCR – and there will be many – makes them look stupid or evil.

  85. 85.

    Phyllis

    @Quackosaur: They’re beating us on STEM (science, tech, eng, math) not so much because they go to school on Saturday but to some extent because our standards are so broad. Teachers do not have the opportunity to really deepen student understanding because there’s so much kids are expected to master. Both the National Reading Panel and National Math Panel have recommended fewer standards and more time spent on certain fundamentals, particularly at the elementary & middle level.

  86. 86.

    chrome agnomen

    @Phyllis:

    they’re also beating us because they don’t have the texas school board deciding on their textbook substance.

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